Peach Fuzz offers versatility in clothing and home goods, Pantone's representatives said, and incorporates a tactile nature that is hard to resist. Photos: Pantone Color Institute/dpa
After a year of hardship – shootings, war and uncertainty regarding artificial intelligence – the Pantone Color Institute has announced that Peach Fuzz, a warm and fuzzy hue between pink and orange, is the Colour of the Year for 2024.
Looking back at 2023, you can't help but wonder if one of Pantone's most popular colours this year – no, not Viva Magenta, the official Colour of the Year, but PMS 219C (commonly referred to as Barbie Pink) – influenced Pantone's choice, which was announced Dec 7.
In a recent interview about 2024's choice colour, Laurie Pressman, vice president of Pantone, described the colour authority's choice as a much-needed balm for a country "in need of compassion" and the institute's global wish "for a more peaceful future."
"With that in mind," she said, "we wanted to focus on a colour that focuses on community and the ones we love. We needed it to be a colour of compassion and empathy."
The announcement is the 25th year that the prognosticators at Pantone have named a Colour of the Year, a trend forecast that influences everything from paint colours to fashion (note Kate Moss and her daughter Lila's prescient Fuzzy Peach-inspired gowns by Fendi at this year's Met Gala), dinnerware to furniture, nail polish to lipstick, and even peach-tipped locks.
Peach Fuzz offers versatility in clothing and home goods, Pantone's representatives said, and incorporates a tactile nature that is hard to resist. "It's a colour that you want to reach out and touch," exective director Leatrice Eiseman said, as it's "softly sensual and imminently touchable".
At a time when people are spending more and more time on modern technology, the peach colour has a vintage vibe but is also fresh and light. "It's sensitive and sweet but at the same time quietly sophisticated, gentle and tactile," she added.
At a time when people are spending more and more time on modern technology, the peach colour has a vintage vibe but is also fresh and light.
The experts at Pantone anticipate the colour will be popular for weddings and floral arrangements too."The aesthetic is so bright and fresh and airy and sets a beautiful tone for a wedding," Pressman said.
And don't forget men. According to Eiseman, a colour like Peach Fuzz enhances their skin tone.
Warmth, a keyword in the Colour of the Year announcement, resonates with the recent emphasis on doing what makes us feel good – something that's explored in Queer Eye designer Bobby Berk's recent book, Right at Home: How Good Design is Good for the Mind."
The book delves into not just how to make your space pretty but how to figure out what makes you happy," said Berk, who recently announced that Season 8 will be his last on Queer Eye.
"What is your favourite clothing? Vacation? You should work those things into your home because they will make you happy.
"That's because colour is an emotional experience, said Eiseman, a colour specialist. "Colour speaks to you because it has an emotional attachment to you. People always worry: 'Will others like it?' Listen to your inner self. You're the one who'll be living with the colour."
What if your inner self is colour-challenged? That's where Pantone comes in.
"It's all about what suits you," Eiseman said, explaining her role as a colour psychologist of sorts. "We do trends, but it's from the standpoint of how we create an idea that brings comfort to you. We try to help you overcome the negative aspects of colour."
Looking at upcoming trends, she said, "It's always a challenge to open people's ideas to other colours. We create the palettes just like we do for the forecast. Colours are rarely used in isolation. And that's a challenge."
As with previous years, there will be critics who won't buy into peach interiors, clothes, mountain bikes and accessories, no matter how well the peach vibe pairs with the other colours in the Pantone colour chart or how warm and comforting it was intended.
If a colour speaks to you, the challenge is making it work. "We try to open your imagination and give you a skill set," Eiseman said.
Colour should never be about dogma and judgment, especially for less confident people.
According to the colour experts at Pantone, choosing a colour is less about design and more about making yourself happy.
Added Pressman: "It's about reframing how we want to live." – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
